The states share the Finland-Norway border.

Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1917, after Finland's independence.

For some decades surrounding 1900, many in Norway feared the Finnish immigration and Kven people in Northern Norway, coining the term "the Finnish danger".

For a period, interests in Norway wanted to annex parts of Lapland (most notably the "arm" protruding from the north-west and into Storfjord Municipality) as buffer zones.

The controversy around Finns in Norway subsided over time, and the land claim never evolved into open conflict.